Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The national trainees will undergo a fitness test when they report to camp on March 25. And the results of the fitness test could well determine as to when the national team for the Azlan Shah Cup will be named.

In revealing this, national coach Tai Beng Hai said it was vital to gauge the fitness level before moving on to the tactical and match play preparation.

"We need to test the players first and we are looking at the last week of April in naming the final squad for the Azlan Shah," said Beng Hai.

"I need to hold discussions with Saiful and Stephen in determining the timing."

Beng Hai said that the team will be participating in a Four Nation Tournament in Japan this June before another Four Nation Invitational in Moscow.

For the Japan event, which is scheduled for early June, the other teams are Pakistan, China and hosts Japan.

Beng Hai said while the national players will be released for the Razak Cup proper, their release for the qualifiers seems unlikely as the national team will be in camp.

And talking about the MHL that will commence in September, Beng Hai did this to say;

"The players will need to national camp one day a week and I require a minimum four weeks before the Champions Challenge to prepare the team.

"Anything less then four weeks will mean the squad will not be well prepared hence trying to achieve the target will be difficult."

Monday, March 21, 2011

Blunder in drawing up the fixtures has moved the qualifiers of the Tun Razak Cup from April to end of May.

Initially the qualifying tournament was to commence on April 2 but with the MJHL ongoing some states threatened to withdraw as they could not utilize the services of players who were representing their clubs in the junior league.

Hence it was then decided that the qualifiers be moved to the end of May with a break in June to accommodate the Under 21 Tournament and the qualifiers are to be completed at the end of June.

This development does not augur well for MHF as they are seen to have developed a flip flop approach and shows that the Competition Committee does not have a firm grip in deciding matters thus even leading for one Secretary to call for the committee to be dissolved.

An official statement on this matter is expected to be made today by MHF but it must be made clear that one persons ignorance and arrogance has put MHF , especially it's hard working Secretary in a difficult position as much time is spent fire fighting.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

There was no place for Ismail Abu in the training squad for the national team that was named despite some strong performances in the recent Malaysian Hockey League.

And the door was also shut on the likes of Khairul Nizam Ibrahim, Jiwa Mohan, Jivan Mohan, Mohd Fikri Bassar, Tajol Rosli Mohammad and Muhd Fairuz who were in the training squad last year.

Also being shown the door were players who withdrew from the national team at one time or another in the likes of Ahmad Kazamirul, Muhammad Shafiq, Hakim Adnan, Mohd Amerullah, Baljit Singh Sarjab Singh, Herwan Pami, Harvinder Singh, Khairul Azrin.

And with the NSC only approving 25 players for the squad, the coaches decided to circumvent it by naming five attachment players.

The national team will participate in the Azlan Shah Cup (5-15 May) and a Four Nation Invitational in June in Moscow. They will also participate in the Champions Challenge in South Africa this November before the Olympic Qualifiers early next year.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Defending champions Kuala Lumpur marched into the final of the National Under 16 Tournament in style as they blanked Kelantan 6-0 in the semi final at the KLHA Stadium in Pantai this evening.
In the other semifinal, Malacca defied all odds to defeat Perak 3-1 on penalty strokes after the match ended in a 1-1 draw. It is the first time that Malacca has qualified for the final.
Goalkeeper Mohd Ridzwan was the toast of the Malacca squad as he saved the third stroke, having psyched the first two Perak flickers, Mohd Khairul Adha Ilyas and Azli Misron to send their flicks wide on either side of the goal. And the attempt by Mohd Helmi Jaafar was saved by Ridzwan.
In contrast Malacca scored through Luqman Nurhakim, Muhd Zairie Nizam and Mohd Firdaus Omar with only Mohd Amirul Aiman failing to find the mark.
Perak took the lead in the 24th minute through Mohd Khairul only to see Malacca draw level in the 62nd minute when Mohd Faid Farhadh converted a penalty corner. Extra time failed to produce a winner and the match was decided on penalty strokes.
Kuala Lumpur thus has made it to four consecutive finals since 2008 and are gunning for their fourth successive trophy. And their march towards the final is all the more impressive given that they have gone 560 minutes without conceding a goal.
As with their preliminary round matches, Kuala Lumpur were slow starters and took more then 15 minutes to settle down.
Their midfield was akin to sleepwalking as Kelantan had more possession but could not convert their domination into goal scoring opportunities.
And once KL went into gear, there was no stopping them. Muhd Farhan Danial converted a penalty corner in the 19th minute to give KL the lead. wo minutes later it was the turn of Atihsha Tamil Chelvam to strike, also off a penalty corner to give the defending champions a 2-0 lead.
When KL scored their third, via Norsyafiq Sumantri in the 23rd minute, all hell broke loose as the Kelantan team walked off the pitch, claiming that the goal should have been disallowed. But umpire Wan Iqmal Hasif was correct in awarding the goal as Norsyafiq’s deflection was towards goal and hit a defenders leg before crossing the goal line.
After a delay of three minutes, the Kelantan players returned to the pitch but KL were not about to ease off as Zizi Azwan Hassan made it 4-0 in the 26th minute.
KL eased off in the second half but were still good enough to add two more goals to their tally through Zulaniq Adib Abd Razak (44th minute) and Atitshha (67th minute) to complete the rout.
Semi Final Results:
Kuala Lumpur 6 Kelantan 0
Malacca 1 Perak 1

The next ten days will see a flurry of activities in the hockey scenario in Malaysia.

Today will see either KLHC or Sapura be crowned champions of the MHL and at the KLHA Stadium the semis of the National Under 16 Tournament will be held. At 3.30pm KL will take on Kelantan in the first semis while at 5.30pm it will see Malacca battling Perak for the other final spot.

And tomorrow at 5.30pm, the final of the National Under 16 will be held at KLHA Stadium.

On March 22, the logo of the MHF-MILO-NSC Junior Hockey League will be revealed and a day later the Razak Cup will be launched.

And the MJHL gets underway on March 25 with the Razak Cup on April 2.

But behind all these feel good factors, there are voices of discontent within the MHF affiliates.

Top most is the arbitrary manner in which fixtures of the competitions are being drawn up, with no regards given to the teams, and such high handed manner is not going un-noticed.

There is a Competition Committee but it's members are not consulted with regards to the fixtures. One look at the Under 16 fixtures will show you that it's an amateurish attempt and this does not bode well for the Secretariat.

Then there is the issue of Stephen van Huizen, who it seems has stated his case of not being at ease with the job description for the Coordinator job he has been assigned to.

Seems a meeting of the MHF National Team Management Committee will be held soon in an attempt to pacify Stephen. But will it resolve the issue?

Some have labelled Stephen's position as akin to a glorified clerk and looking at the job description, which sorely lacks technical input, the label is not wrong by a mile.

Next we have the case of national team manager, where George Koshy has been asked to take on the task again but has said that he will only decide after the MHL finals.

There are issues with regards to Koshy and certain officials, in addition to him bogged down with his work, but chances are he might not accept the position.

Moving on from there, coaches and affiliates are not too happy that Lim Chiow Chuan has been entrusted with the head honcho job for the Project 2017 squad.

Although the Coaching Chairman Manjit Majid Abdullah had said that Lim's appointment was only till end of 2012, many do not see the necessity of him coaching the team when his priorities should be the 1MAS program.

The team will play in the Razak Cip and it's qualifiers from April till July, meaning four months of time that Lim has to juggle between both, and not forgetting the year end tours that are planned.

So the murmurs of discontent continue in the case of Lim as 1MAS seek a replacement for Saiful Azli who quit in a huff in February.

And lastly to those within MHF that claim that my silence had been bought, does this posting answer you loud and clear?

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sabah ended their campaign in the National Under 16 tournament holding Pahang to a 2-2 draw in their Group A match at the KLHA Stadium this morning.
It was their fourth draw in six matches they played in the tournament and though they did not win any matches, it was nevertheless a good outing for the East Malaysia side.
Sabah lost 0-5 to Kuala Lumpur and were edged 1-2 by Selangor. And they drew Pahang (2-2), Johor (3-3), Malacca (2-2) and PDRM (2-2).
“I am happy with the performances though the results could have been better as in some matches we held the upper hand,” said Sabah team manager Laila Md Shahbadur.
“But if there is one area that I would like to see some improvement then it has to be the fixtures as there was not sufficient rest in between the matches.
“And this was something that affected all the teams, especially when requiring to play at night and early the next morning.”
Pahang opened scoring in the 2nd minute through Muhd Nashriq Harith off a penalty corner only to see Sabah snatch an equalizer in the 39th minute via Muhd Afiq Japli, also through a penalty corner.
Although Pahang surged ahead 2-1 in the 47th minute when Aidel Syaffiq Abdul Azam scored, Sabah were not to be denied as Awangku Iskandar netted the equalizer in the 62nd minute.
In another match this morning, Selangor ended their campaign with a 4-0 win over Johor.
Goals for Selangor were scored by Nazirul Mubin (20th and 27th minutes), Muhd Hafif Elkan (50th minute) and Muhd Faizzil Zairollal (53rd minute).
Results: Thursday
Group A
Selangor 4 Johor 0

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Terengganu put a huge dent in the hopes of Negri Sembilan of making the semi finals of the National Under 16 Tournament.

The east coast side upset the more fancied Negri 4-2. With the win, Terengganu will fancy their chances as they have collected seven points from five matches and have only Perlis and Penang to play.

"It was a good win and it gives us a glimmer of hope of making the last four," said team manager Mohd Saberi Salleh.

"As long as we are in with a chance we will give our very best. Actually this is more of a team for the future as 15 players are eligable to play in the Under 14 tournament later this year."

The defeat of Negri paved the way for Kelantan to take over the second spot in Group B after they defeated Singapore 3-0. Kelantan have 13 points from five matches and have to play Perak and Penang to complete their fixtures.

Kuala Lumpur remained unbeaten in the National Under 16 tournament when they trashed Johor 5-0 in a Group A match played at the KLHA Stadium in Pantai this morning. This was their fourth win in as many matches, giving them 12 points and virtually a place in the semis.

What is more remarkable is the fact that KL have scored 24 goals and yet to concede any.

Nor Azrul Abdul Rahman was the toast of the city side as he notched a hattrick, scoring in the 22nd, 43rd and 61st minutes.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Selangor and Malacca registered convincing wins in the National Under 16 tournament this morning and look forward to an explosive clash tomorrow (Monday).

Pahang were at the receiving end of the onslaught by Selangor who hammered the east coast side 7-1 while Malacca was equally clinical in their 3-1 win over Johor.

With defending champions Kuala Lumpur, who defeated PDRM 9-0 this morning, also in Group A, both Selangor and Malacca realize that it will be crucial for them to win the points when the two teams meet on Monday.

Selangor has a more difficult set of fixtures to end their campaign as they not only face Malacca but will be up against KL (Wednesday) and Johor (Thursday).

And coach Wan Samsuri Wan Hassan realizes that despite collecting maximum points from the three matches thus far, it is the match against Malacca that could well determine their fate in the tournament.

“It is a three way battle for the two semi finals spot from our group between Selangor, KL and Malacca,” said Wan Samsuri.

“While I rate our chances at 50/50 against KL, we have hold the edge over Malacca and I have told my players that it is akin to a final for us.

“Having eight players from last year’s team helps as we did not have more then a week’s preparation for the tournament this time. And after the relatively poor performance against Sabah in our opening match, we have been improving.

“Our initial target is making the semis and from there it will be an open affair as I do not see vast difference in standards amongst the teams here.”

Selangor is represented mostly by players from SMK Seksyen 11 Shah Alam and the Bukit Jalil Sports School. And they showed why they were a team to be feared as they completely demolished Pahang.

Meanwhile Malacca too was in a class of their own in their match against Johor and took the lead in the 6th minute via skipper Muhd Firdaus Omar. But Johor were on levels terms when Safeed Roslan found the back of the net in the 24th minute.

Negri Sembilan continued their fine run in the National Under 16 tournament when they defeated Penang 7-2 at the Ministry of Education Stadium in Pantai this morning.

This was their second win in as many matches, having disposed off Singapore with a 5-1 win yesterday, thus installing them as the favourites to progress from Group B for the knockout stages.

Negri have a deadly goal scorer in the likes of Muhd Ikhwan Ishak, who struck a hattrick in the game today, to add to his four goals against Singapore yesterday, thus making it seven goals in two matches thus far.

Negri opened scoring as early as the third minute through Muhd Ikwan Ishak but two strikes in the 5th and 10th minutes by Izaidi Ismail and Mohd Faridzul Izwan respectively gave the islanders a 2-1 lead. But Negri were undeterred and leveled the scores when Norhafizi Aris struck in the 15th minute.

Penang keeper Mohd Rafiuddin Mohd Dahari kept the Negri forwards at bay with a string of fine saves. But he was hapless when Mohd Shabariq Shamsuri scored in the 48th minute.

And Negri scored at will in the last ten minutes, through Mohd Fakhrul Razi Kunyapu (60th minute), Ikwan (62nd and 64th minutes) and Norhafizi (69th minute) to give them a comprehensive win.

Kelantan too were impressive in their 4-0 demolition of Terengganu with skipper Mohd Aminuddin Zain scoring a brace in the 35th and 59th minutes.

Mohd Safami Mohd Sayuti (46th minute) and Mohd Zikrillah Alias (55th minute) were also on target as Kelantan also notched up their second successive win, having disposed off the challenge of Perlis (3-1) the previous night.

Kedah, who drew their opening match against Penang on Friday, got all three points when they defeated Perlis 4-0.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Selangor fought back from a goal down to defeat Sabah in their opening match of the National Under 16 Championships at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium in Pantai this morning.

Sabah shocked Selangor with a goal in the 5th minute via Muhammad Harditireio, who converted a penalty corner, to take the lead.

But Selangor were undeterred and drew level in the 19th minute through Jazli Haziq Jamalul. And seven minutes later Selangor led 2-1 with Jazli notching his second goal.

Meanwhile Malacca got off to a winning start as well when they defeated Pahang 4-1 in an exciting match.

Malacca took the lead in the 16th minute when Luqman Nurhakim Saiful converted a penalty corner. But Pahang drew level in the 31st minute through Aidel Syaffiq Abdul Azam.

But Malacca took their chances well at penalty corners to go 2-1 up in the 55th minute when Mohammad Aizuddin Roslan scored. They went 3-1 ahead in the 61st minute when Abdul Aziz Aris converted another penalty corner.

And Mohd Firdaus Omar put the issue beyond doubt by converting yet another penalty corner in the 70th minute to give Malacca a comprehensive 4-1 win over the early favourites.

In the first game this morning, Johor were held to a 1-1 draw by PDRM in another Group A match. It was a creditable performance from PDRM who comprised mostly of the second string players from Kuala Lumpur.

Johor took the lead in the 16th minute through Kamarul Ariffin but failed to make good a host of chances that they created after that, including six penalty corners they were awarded.

Against the run of play PDRM were awarded a penalty corner in the 62nd minute and Mohd Nur Faiz duly converted to level the scores.

“We created enough chances to win the game easily but failed to take the chances. Hence we paid the price for sloppy finishing,” said Johor coach Keshminder Singh.

“We had 12 days of training to prepare for the tournament and I expect the team to improve as the tournament progresses.

“Our target is to make the last four as we were edged out of the semis last year.”

Both teams ended the match with ten players as PDRM’s Ameer Mohd and Johor’s Mohd Zarriq Hakim were shown the yellow card in the 66th and 67th minutes respectively.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The FIH have introduced a shoot out in place of penalty strokes to determine a winner of a match for the Champions Trophy and Champions Challenge.

Penalty Shoot Out Regulationa 5 players from each team take a one-on-one penalty shoot-out alternately against the goalkeeper of the other team making a total of 10 penalty shoot-outs. The players take the penalty shoot-out in the sequence nominated and communicated by the team managers to the Technical Officer on duty before the start of the penalty shoot-out competition. Players are chosen by their respective team manager from those listed on the team entry form for that particular match except as excluded hereunder.

b After consultation with the Technical Officer on duty, the umpires choose the goal to be used.

c A coin is tossed. The team which wins the toss has the choice to take or defend the first penalty shoot-out.

d The team scoring or awarded the most goals is the winner and the competition ceases once an outright winner is determined.

e During a penalty shoot-out competition, all persons who appear on the team entry form and who are entitled to sit on the team bench for that match are permitted to enter the field of play but only in the area outside the 23m area used for the shoot-out. The goalkeeper of the team taking a penalty shoot-out may be on the goal-line outside the circle if so directed by the umpire. A player who is authorised by an umpire or technical official to take or defend a penalty shoot-out may enter the 23m area for that purpose.

f A player who has been suspended by the Tournament Director or has been excluded permanently (red card) from the field of play during that same match, cannot take part in a penalty shoot-out competition.

g The penalty shoot-out is taken under the following conditions:i​the defending goalkeeper starts behind their own goal line between the goal posts;ii​the ball is placed on the nearest 23m line opposite the centre of the goal;iii​an attacker starts behind the 23m line near the ball;iv​the umpire blows the whistle to signal the start of the shoot-out; the attacker and the goalkeeper may then move in any direction;v​the shoot-out is completed when one of the following occurs:- 8 seconds has elapsed;- the attacker scores a goal;- the attacker commits an offence;- the goalkeeper commits an offence in which case the shoot-out is re-taken;- the goalkeeper commits an intentional offence, in which case a goal is awarded;- the ball goes out of play over the back-line or side-line; this includes the goalkeeper intentionally playing the ball over the back-line.

h If during a penalty shoot-out competition a player (either an attacker or a goalkeeper) is suspended, that player takes no further part in that penalty shoot-out competition and, unless a defending goalkeeper, cannot be replaced. If the defending goalkeeper is suspended, the replacement can only come from the 5 players nominated to take part in the penalty shoot-out competition. The replacement goalkeeper is allowed reasonable time to put on protective equipment. If an attacker is suspended, any penalty shoot-out the player was entitled to take counts as no goal.

i If during a penalty shoot-out competition, a defending goalkeeper is incapacitated, that goalkeeper may be replaced by another player from within the players listed on the team entry form for that particular match, except as excluded above in sub-clause (d) or sub-clause (f). If the replacement goalkeeper is a field player, that player is allowed reasonable time to put on protective equipment.

j In the event of an equal number of goals scored or awarded after each team has taken 5 shoot-outs, a second series of penalty shoot-outs is taken with the same players, subject to an incapacitated defending goalkeeper(s) being replaced. When one team has scored or been awarded one more goal than the opposing team after an equal number of strokes (no minimum, no maximum) have been taken by each team, that team shall be the winner.

k The same players take part in a second (unlimited) series of penalty shoot-outs except that an incapacitated goalkeeper can be replaced. The sequence in which the attackers take the penalty shoot-outs does not need to be the same as in the first series; before each penalty shoot-out series, the team manager chooses the order in which the nominated players take the particular penalty shoot-out. In this second series, all five nominated players shall take a penalty shoot-out before any of them are eligible to take a further penalty shoot-out.

l The team whose player has taken the first penalty shoot-out of the first series must defend the first penalty shot-out of the second (unlimited) series

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Malaysian Hockey Federation National Under 16 championship for the NSC Trophy, sponsored by Nestle (M) Berhad and organised by the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association gets underway this Friday, March 11,2011.

A sponsorship presentation ceremony for the championships was held at the KL Hockey Stadium.

“The National Sports Council encourages events at the age group so as to keep the youngsters on the competitive edge. Tournaments such as this provide them with an opportunity to gain experience competitively at a young age and it will serve them well in the years to come,” said Tuan Haji Jalil.

“It is good to note that almost all affiliates are participating and I hope the teams will display a high standard of hockey and continue to strive towards developing hockey in the country.”

A total of 15 teams will battle it out over nine days to be crowned champions.

Thirteen state teams, with the exception of Sarawak are in the fray together with Royal Malaysian Police. The Malaysian Armed Forces is the other notable absentee from MHF affiliates. Also making an appearance is Singapore.

The teams have been divided into two groups and at the end of the preliminary round, the top two teams in each group will play in the cross over semifinals.

A total of 53 matches including semis, 3r/4th placing and final will be played at Stadium Hoki Kuala Lumpur and Stadium Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.

One significant factor in this years championship is that the two coaches of the teams that contest in the final will be given the opportunity to join the National Under 16 team as attachment coaches.

The National Under 16 team will be coached by former international and FIH High Performance coach Lim Chiow Chuan who will be assisted by another two former internationals, Lailin Abu Hassan goalkeeper coach M. Nadarajah.

The National Under 16 training squad will be selected from this tournament and they will participate in the qualifying rounds of the Tun Razak Cup in April and May before participating in the Four Nation Invitational in Manheim, Germany from 10-13 June, 2011. The other three countries in the fray are Germany, Holland and Belgium.

For the Tun Razak Cup, the National Under 16 team has been placed in the North Zone where they will face Penang, Kedah and Perlis in the qualifiers before the tournament proper in July.

In paying tribute to the teams and MHF, Nestle (M) Sports Sponsorship Manager Ng Ping Loong said that Milo has been long associated with hockey, in particular at the junior level.

"Before the introduction of the Under 16 competition, we were supporting the Under 15 event. And we are happy to see that almost all states are participating," said Ping Loong.

"We hope to see an 100 percent participation from states next year and I do hope Sarawak will enter the competition in 2012."

All the teams, with the exception of Singapore, will receive a participation grant of RM3, 000 that is jointly contributed by Nestle (M) Berhad and the National Sports Council

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The President of the Malaysian Women’s Hockey Association, YM Raja Puan Sri Dato’ Noora Ashikin bte Raja Abdullah announced today two new important milestones for the Malaysian Women’s Hockey.

The first being the formation of the High Performance Development Division in the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (Women’s Hockey). In the effort to ensure that development is given its due importance especially that the new cycle of 2012 London Olympic Qualifiers, 17th Asian Games, Incheon, Korea (2014), Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland (2014) have begun.

The equal importance must indeed be placed on the preparation for the 2012 Continental Junior World Cup Qualifiers and the team for the Elite.

As such, the MHC (WH) have created a High Performance Division, which will be headed by Yahya Atan as Director. The entire national development program and the 1MAS program coordination will be managed by this Division.

The experience of Yahya is very much needed in ensuring that the many tiers of national teams are formed and are harnessed.

We are delighted that the 1MAS Task Force for the inclusion of the 1MAS program for the women.

We particularly thanked the President of MHF, DYTM Tengku Mahkota Pahang and the Director General of NSC , YBhg Dato’ Zolkples for their support. This will indeed be a new era for the development of women’s hockey especially at the states. The President presented to the 1MAS Task Force today morning at 11am at the NSC.The program is scheduled to take-offin the first week of April 2011. The program will be under the responsibility of the High Performance Development Division Director, Yahya Atan.

Yahya's assistant Nasihin Nubli will be made as the Chief Coach for the National Women’s Team preparing for the Champions Challenge 2, which will be held from 7/15 May 2011.He will be assisted by Ernawati Mahmud.

The Association is in the midst of having discussions with the National Sports Council and the Ministry of Education to make the Bandar Penawar Sports School the centre for the National High Performance Development Centre.The meetings are scheduled to be held in midst March 2011.

The President emphasized on the importance of the performance of the team at the Champions Challenge 2 and is confident of the team performing well. The target for the team indeed is to become among the semi-finalist. Although of the eight (8 teams), Malaysia is ranked sixth (6th), the MHC (Women’s Hockey) is confident the girls will rise to the occasion and perform well.

The team has started full-time training at the moment from the second week of February 2011.The preparation for the participation in the Champions Challenge 2 include 3 matches against Japan’s top club team (the Sony Japan team) on 19,20 and 21 March 2011 , which will be followed by a tour of Australia.

Participating Teams

Pool A

Pool B

Chile

(16 – 803 points)

Belgium

(17 – 733 points)

Canada

(19 – 709 points)

Russia

(18 – 731 points)

Italy

(20 – 705 points)

Malaysia

(22 – 540 points)

Austria

(37 – 155 points)

Belarus

(23 – 523 points)

Previous Records:

Chile: we lost 1-0 in the World Cup Qualifiers, 2010 in Santiago, Chile